For my birthday on Tuesday, I attended a Hawai’i Pacific University fly-in program. It was an all-expense paid trip from the morning ’til late afternoon.

HPU was the only school I didn’t send in my financial aid paperwork for. In my mind, I had my heart set on the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa, so that’s the main school I focused on to send my forms to.

Even after knowing UH would be the most expensive school for me and would offer the least amount of financial aid, I still wanted to enroll there; however, this fly-in has completely changed my thinking.

We got to sit in on a meeting about the clubs and organizations, academic programs, and campus life HPU offers. A campus tour followed, and we ended with sitting in on a college class on nutrition.

There was a lot of walking and traveling to get from one building to the next, but the overall experience has boosted my excitement for college by a ton.

I loved the size of the classes and how teachers knew their students’ names. I enjoyed all the food that surrounded the campuses. I liked the diversity and change of scenery for both campuses.

At the very end, the HPU admissions counselor asked me if I was going to attend their school next semester, and for once since I was a little girl, I wasn’t quick to say UH.

After a short conversation about the overall experience, I was swayed into sending in my financial aid forms to receive my financial award letter for HPU.

I’m really scared about meeting the May 1 deadline, the national commitment day, but I know Iʻll make it.

As the year winds down on my blog about life as a senior, here’s another lesson I’ve learned.

When it comes to applying to colleges, it’s better to be safe than sorry. I should have just sent in all my forms for all the schools I applied to.

Even after basically knowing exactly where I wanted to go for all my life, it’s still possible to have a last minute change of heart.